Trolley heads



p 1956 s. 1.. WHITE 2,764,644

TROLLEY HEADS Filed Aug. 13, 1952 20 IN V EN TOR.

S. L. WHITE United States Patent Odie? Patented Sept. 25, 1956 TROLLEYHEADS Stanley Livingstone White, Sunnyside, Pretoria,

Union of South Africa Application August 13, 1952, Serial No. 304,090 1Claim. 01. 191-591 This invention relates to trolley heads or currentcollectors as provided at the extremitiesof-the booms of electrictrolley buses, trackless trams and the like for contacting overheadcurrent supply-wires.- It relates more particularly to that commonconstruction of such heads wherein a trough-section shoe by which thewire is contacted and which is swivelable in relation to a bodyconnecting it to the boom is liable, on disengagement from the wire andespecially where it assumes a-transverse or oblique relationshipthereto, forcibly to engage and even become hooked to span wiressupporting the supply wires, and overhead fittings or supports ofvarious kinds particularly those running transversely of the supplywires or the plane of the boom or presenting surfaces so disposed: withthe result of tearing the head from the boom and/ or seriously damagingsuch span wires or other devices.

According to the invention in a trolley head of the type above referredto, there is interposed between the pivotal connection of the shoe andthat part of the body which is connected to the boom, a spring-loadedhinged connection enabling the shoe temporarily to recede rearwardly anddownwardly in relation to the remainder of the head, on impact with suchdevices as aforesaid and to pass thereunder without any of theaforegoing disadvantages.

More particularly the body is formed in two transversely hingedsections, the lower or forward one of which is connected to the boomwhilst the rear section carries the usual upright pivot about which theshoe supporting saddle is free to rotate (to accommodate lateralobliquity of the boom in relation to the wire) and to which it isconnected on a transverse pivot (to accommodate height variations of thewire from the ground). The hinge is spring-loaded in such a way asordinarily to compact the body sections and maintain the shoe in normalraised operative position for engaging the shoe trough with the wire.

Any sharp load or impact received on the shoe, as when it leaves thewire and assumes a crosswise position in relation to the same, willmerely result in resilient rearward and downward deflection of the wholerear section aforesaid, allowing the obstruction whatever be its nature,to slide easily over the head, the two sections of the body thereafterreassuming their original and normal compacted and operative position.

To obviate possible catching of the cross wires or other suchobstruction in the opening between the two sections of the head bodywhen the shoe carrying section is thus deflected, a guard member isprovided which is fixed to the latter section so as to partake of itsaforesaid deflecting movement and present at all times a barrier overthe said opening also assisting the obstruction to slide easily over theshoe.

Conveniently the spring loading of the two sections into their normalcompacted position is obtained by a compression spring of suitablestrength, operative between abutments attached respectively to orotherwise provided by the said sections below the head as a whole; and ashunt or conductor relieving the aforesaid pivotal connection betweenthe body sections from the duty of carrying the current between-thesesections is conveniently a flexible wire or like stripspanning the-saidspring abutments.- H Downwardly projecting parts such as the spring andabutments aforesaid are conveniently underlaid by a guard memberextending rearwardlyfromthe forward section of the body and designed toprevent such parts from catching over supply wires or other suchoverhead fittings, e. g. during attempts at replacing the shoe againstthe supply wire. t

The invention may be applied as a modification to existing heads in thefollowing simple manner. The body is parted transversely at ashort'distance in front of the shoe-supporting saddle pivot pin and thetwo sections are reconnected by a transverse pivot pin through the lowerrear part of the forward or boom-socket section. The rear section mayhave wing lugs welded to it to receive'the ends of the transverse pivotpin and a downwardly directed lugproviding a connection and abutment forthe rear end of a compression spring extending forwardly below the rearend of the forward body section. This'last may have an angle pieceWelded underneath it providing a second downwardly extending lug infront of andin line with the-first downwardly extending lug toconstitute a connection and abutment for the forward 'end of the saidspring which thus acts outwardly-resilpinched at its end between thelugs and the spring ends with the aid of suitable screws through thelugs. A'run of stout steel or like wire or rod welded to the front bodysection just behind the boom socket may pass obliquely down to the rearto be welded to the second mentioned lug, thence passing below thespring and curving upwardly towards the base of the shoe saddle pivotpin; thus to provide the second mentioned guard.

The guard for the opening between the body sections and above theirtransverse pivotal connection may be an upwardly curved tongue-likeextension from the front of the rear body section near the plane ofparting of the two sections, the extension curling upwardly into andrearwardly out of the usual hollow box formation of the upper part ofthe body in front of the shoe and ending close to the upper perimeter ofthe saddle, the movements of which the extension follows about thetransverse pivot whereby at all times to span the gap between the saddleand the front section of the body.

In an alternative construction of base guard the same may consist of ashort run of rod from the socket to the nearer or forward lug, and asecond run from the other or rear lug upwardly curving behind the baseof the rear section of the head, the coils of the spring itself beingsufiiciently closely wound to provide a smooth junction between the twoguard runs to obviate catching of crosswires. In either case the guardmay provide a loop for the hook of the usual stick or pole for replacinga dewired head.

To enable the present invention to be more clearly understood andcarried into practice, reference is now made to the accompanyingdrawings in which like reference numerals refer to like parts throughoutthe several views.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a trolley head constructed according tothe invention;

Figure 2 is a side elevation of a slightly modified construction of theinvention; and

Figure 3 is an 'end view of Figure 2 looking in the direction of thearrow A after removal of the rear body part carrying the shoe.

Referring to Figure 1 of the drawings reference 1 denotes the top end ofthe usual current collector boom to which the body part 2 of the head isattached by being made in the form of a socket secured to the boom by aclamping bolt passing through the hole 3. This body part 2 is providedwith the usual hollow deflector 4.

The pivotal body part 5 is connected to the socket body part 2 by thepivot bolt 6 which passes through two holed lugs 7 and a coacting holedportion of the part 2. This body part 5 carries the usual pivoted saddletop 8 with itsconductor receiving shoe 9.

The body part 2 is normally held in its operative position as shown by acompression spring 10 interposed between an angle abutment 11 on thebody part 2 and a similar abutment 12 on the body part 5. A flexiblecurrent conductor cable 13 forms permanent electrical connection-betweenthe two body parts. A guard member 14 underlies thetwo abutments 11 and12 and the bottom end of the swivel1pin'15 of the saddle top 8.

To'prevent cross wires or the like from slipping into the openingbetween the two sections of the head when the body part 5 is deflected,a guard member 16 in the form of a bent metal strip is fixed as bywelding to the, top of the body part 5, while its free end is arrangedto project under-the top portion of the deflector 4.

Figures 2 and 3 show a slightly modified construction of trolley head.In this case the pivotable body part 511 is connected to the socket bodypart 2a by a pivot pin 6a passing through a lug 17 on the part 5a andtwo spaced lugs 18 on the end of the socket part 2a.

The lower end of the part 511 is provided with two lugs-19 by means ofwhichthis part is pivotally connected to a rod 20 provided with a springabutment flange 21 which is fixed to a guide cylinder 22 slidablycoacting with a complementary guide cylinder 23 fixed to a springabutment disc 24 which is anchored against the rounded stop abutment-25provided on the end wall of a guard casing 26.

A compression spring 27 located between the parts 21 and 24 normallyholds the body part 5a in its operative position as shown in Figure 2.Two flexible cables 28 form permanent electrical connection between thebody parts 2a and 5a. The loop 29 is provided to receive the hook of theusual stick or pole for replacing a dewired head.

What I claim is:

In a trolley head comprising a body having one portion socketed forfixing to a boom and another portion located generally rearwardly of thesocketed portion, a member carrying a conductor wire-contacting shoe,substantially upright swivel connection between the shoe-carrying memberand said other body portion, a horizontally arranged pivotal connectionbetween the two body portions located generally below the shoe-carryingmember, and spring means located below the socketed body portioncompressively reacting on the other body portion to resist rearward anddownward tilting movement thereof about the horizontally arrangedconnection, an upwardly and rearwardly inclined formation over thesocketed bodyportion serving upwardly to deflect an encounteredobstruction in relation to the shoe, and a guard member attached to andmovable with the other body portion which member extends into and coactswith the said formation to prevent such obstruction from enteringbetween said formation and the shoe-carrying member.

References Cited in the file of this patent FOREIGN PATENTS GreatBritain Nov. 23,

